More than Just Me

Bissamcuttack Beauty

Chatikona market was in full swing when we arrived there. Apart from me there was another foreign group, who ambled around the gorgeous market wide eyed and slack jawed in amazement. The strict enforced security measures seemed a bit out of place in that colourful place and police checked each and every tourist vehicle for cameras. This strict regulation apparently came into place, after the Italian tourists kidnapping case. It is rumoured that they were kidnapped after photos of semi nude Odisha tribal ladies headed with lascivious captions were found splashed in naughty publications.

They were found guilty of sneaking upon and taking photos of the women when they were bathing, and this created a huge outcry among the tribal communities. While many denounce this theory as an eyewash, photography and visiting the remote tribal villages became banned after this case. In fact, nowadays tourists are not even allowed to…